Hippocampal Volume and the Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment in an Older Adult Population: Assessing Performance on Cognitive Screeners Administered In-Person and Electronically

<p>The present study investigated how performance on in-person and electronic neuropsychological assessment measures predicted subcortical hippocampal volume and cognitive decline consistent with mild cognitive impairment. It was hypothesized that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment would display better predictive strength than the Cogstate Brief Battery when evaluating subcortical hippocampal volume measured via structural magnetic resonance imaging. It was further hypothesized that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment would be more sensitive to predicting group membership to the diagnostic classification of mild cognitive impairment compared to the Cogstate Brief Battery. The sample included 445 older adult participants selected from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 3. Participants met criteria for diagnostic classifications of cognitively normal and mild cognitive impairment and had undergone neuropsychological testing consisting of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Cogstate Brief Battery, as well as structural magnetic resonance imaging scans of the hippocampus at baseline testing. The learning/working memory composite from the Cogstate Brief Battery was the only substantial predictor for total subcortical hippocampal volume. When evaluating predictive strength relative to group membership of either cognitively normal or mild cognitive impairment, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment was the most substantial predictor of diagnostic classification, specifically mild cognitive impairment. The learning/working memory composite from the Cogstate Brief Battery was also a good predictor of group membership, though the Montreal Cognitive Assessment was observed to be more sensitive overall. The results of this study maintained the effectiveness of in-person neuropsychological assessment, while also supporting the use of electronic measures with older adults when evaluating cognitive status. The data also contributes additional information that is helpful in the early detection of progressive neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - Public Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Clinical Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2023

Author dc:creator

• Fabrizi, Kristen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Elizabeth Lane, Ph.D.
• Kathie Bates, Ph.D.

• mild cognitive impairment
• Alzheimer's Disease
• hippocampus
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment
• Cogstate Brief Battery
• structural MRI
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Geriatrics
• Mental Disorders
• Neurology
• Psychiatric and Mental Health
• Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/755

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.nl.edu:diss-1809